World of Blades
by VampireHunterSephiroth200
Summary: A re-imagining of .Hack/GU and Sword Art Online as a crossover. Be prepared...
1. Disclaimer and Author's Note

Neither me nor my collaborator own Sword Art Online or dotHACK/GU. This fanfic isn't just a crossover, it's an attempt to rewrite both universes entirely. Within this universe, The World R1, The World R2, the game Sword Art Online, and Alfhiem Online DO NOT exist. Instead our best attempt at an amalgamation of R2 and SAO called World of Blades. Due to crossover interaction some characters have new affiliations or are different players entirely. For some characters, they may seem OOC (out of character), this was our attempt to fix one of the biggest problems with both series; an overall lack of good characterization. Now I will describe World of Blades' systems, or a basic rundown of it.

Skills and Levelling - A lot like Skyrim but with more skills and perks. For those of you unfamiliar with Skyrim, everytime you increase your skill level in something (in the case of World of Blades anywhere from 1 to 1000) you gain experience towards your next character level. Every character level allows you to grant an extra boost towards health, mana, or stamina as well as a perk point to a perk or arte available with one of your skills. Unlike Skyrim, though, you still gain experience points from killing enemies.

Magic and Artes - Only when you use a certain weapon are certain artes or spells available to you. Most spells, especially healing spells are both equip spells and ready-to-use spells. Any equip spells or artes you use, by that I mean the spells and artes you have access to while a weapon is equipped, consume stamina with each use. Ready-to-use spells can be used without having an appropriate weapon equipped. Stamina acts similarly to in Dark Souls, the difference being that it's not consumed with every hit, only when you activate an equip spell or arte. Blocking and "charge attacks" also depletes stamina. Mana is pooled when you're in a party and is consumed by ready-to-use spells, stamina is not. Stamina recharges during battle and while wandering around, mana only recharges while wandering.

Drops - Not just items and currency can be dropped by enemy monsters. Skills, perks, artes, and spells may also be dropped. A rare item called a "Tuning Fork" is needed for any equip spells to drop. All drops share Destiny's rarity classification; Normal, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary, and Exotic, with an additional classification called Divine. Divine drops are items only, no matter how much you use them they do not deplete, they can be stored but not traded, transferred, taken, salvaged, or sold. Skills and perks are dropped in the form of scrolls and artes and spells in the form of tomes, none are to be confused with grimoire weapons, skill books, or item blueprints.

Items - Weapons, armor, clothing, tools, consumables, alchemy, cooking, materials, enchanting, and barter. All items Rare and below have a durability that either depletes with use or over a set period of time.

Weapons - Twin Daggers, Longswords, Greatswords, Scythes, Lances (though they resemble huge drills), Great Axes, Kunckle-Gauntlets, Rifles, Twin Handguns, Gatling Guns, Railguns, Caster Rifles (they fire spell-infused bullets), Staves, Grimoires, Throwing Knives and Twin Fans. Most gun weapons still require ammunition to fire, the exception to this rule are Gatling Guns and Railguns, which consume stamina and in some cases mana to fire.

Armor - Heavy, Light, and Robe class of which there are Helmets, Armors, Gauntlets/Gloves, Boots, and Accessories. Generally, they're only meant to augment your damage resistence but can have other effects if enchanted.

Clothing - Self-explanatory. Typically worn around towns instead of armor.

Tools - Useful for Blacksmithing, Gunsmithing, Spellcrafting, Cooking, Alchemy, and Enchanting. Each of these skills have specific tools associated with them and are labelled appropriately.

Consumables - Health, stamina, and mana potions as well as other such items. Some can be used multiple times or have several different uses.

Alchemy - Ingredient items used to make potions and poisons, some may also be counted as cooking items.

Cooking - Ingredient items used to make in-game foods, some may also be counted as alchemy items.

Materials - Ingredient items used in Blacksmithing, Gunsmithing, and Spellcrafting.

Enchanting - Soul gems, along with several varieties of enhancement stones.

Barter - Barter items have only 2 uses, as a stashible form of currency or to sell.

Skill Trees - One-handed, Two-Handed, Defending (blocking, countering, and parrying), Marksmanship, Stealth, Lockpicking, Pickpocketing, Speechcraft, Restoration, Destruction, Support, Blacksmithing, Gunsmithing, Spellcrafting (the forging of staves, grimoires, and twin fans), Cooking, Alchemy, and Enchanting.

Player homes and shops - Players can own their own houses, shops, inns, taverns, and even entire areas if they buy them or lease them. When an area has been bought or leased the owner can charge a toll to enter the area or can restrict other players from entering at all. They can also build player dwellings in these areas.

Areas - Along with fields, dungeons, guild areas, and Lost Grounds there are also race-tracks to race hover-bikes, hunting grounds where multiple players chase a single monster, and sports fields which are self-explanatory.

If you have any further questions, leave me a comment and I will address it.


	2. Twilight Mirror Incident

Opening his eyes, a silver-haired youth standing next to one in black hair looked around the world they had just arrived in. They turned to each other and nodded in silent agreement. Then took off running, with a blonde elven girl in green clothes struggling to catch up. Their names? Depends on if you're talking about this brand new game world or the real world. In the real world they were Ryou Misaki, Kiriga Kazuto, and Sughou Kazuto but here they were known as Haseo, Kirito, and Leafa. "Com'n Sughou, you're slow leakin'!" Haseo called. "I'm a girl, I'm supposed to leak slowly!" she shouted back. All 3 had a good laugh from that. "Com'n you 2 cut it out... Stop with the flirting, I'm standing right here..." Kirito teased. "Jerks...!" Leafa huffed. "Why thank you Sughou, you just made my day..." Haseo quipped in response. "Um, Haseo... We're not supposed to use our real names here..." Kirito corrected. "I don't see the harm in it... We grew up together..." he replied with a shug. "I'm going shopping...! I still have my leftover cash from the Beta test...!" Leafa declaired confidently. And shortly after found her brother and childhood friend walking away. "Hey...!" she shouted. "Have fun...!" Haseo called. "Yeah, see ya' later!" Kirito replied. "You guys are JERKS, you hear me!? J-E-R-K-S!" she shouted after them feeling flustered.

Haseo and Kirito ran through Mac Anu, mostly just taking in the sights of the city. When they decided that they'd had enough goofing around they decided to make for the Chaos Gate. On their way to it, they were stopped by a guy with long brown hair and a red bandana around his head. "Hey! Hey wait up you 2...!" he called. "Uh, sorry are we supposed to know you...?" Haseo asked. "No, nothing like that, my name's Klien-..." he began. "Your screenname says BallsDeep69..." Kirito pointed out. "Wha-what the fuck!?" Klien cried as he opened his menu. Kirito and Haseo busted out laughing at the expression on Klien's face. "Yeah, yeah, very funny assholes..." Klien replied trying not to laugh himself. "We ARE assholes and it's GREAT! What's your point?" Haseo replied with a chuckle. "Let's help him out, Ryou..." Kirito replied. "Seriously? We're just gonna' help out some random guy...?" Haseo quipped. "If we don't hep him, he's just gonna' run around helplessly and end up as lunch for a random monster or a target for some jackass PKer..." Kirito responded. "Fine... But I won't be held responsible if he turns out to be some psychotic stalker..." Haseo relented. The 3 head to the Chaos Gate. "So, how do we get to an area?" Klien asked. Haseo sighed heavily. "Delta Courageous Engaging Daydream..." Kirito said to the Gate. With that the 3 were warped to a field area. "Twenty gil says he gets his ass kicked by one of these boars..." Haseo quipped. "Shut up, Ryou..." Kirito quipped back. "Um, did I miss something?" Klien asked. "We're childhood friends..." Kirito explained. Klien started trying to kill the boar but it mostly just knocked him around. "Smooth, real smooth..." Haseo commented sarcastically while helping him up. "Screw you man, that's like the pig from hell!" Klien half-shouted. Kirito picked up a rock, charged it and threw it. The number 943 flashed over the pig in red and it died. "My god...!" Kirito started in sarcastic glee. "Ah fucking hell...!" Haseo sighed. "I have discovered the most powerful weapon in the game...!" Kirito continued with his sarcastic glee. "Fuck, shut the hell up, Kiriga!" Haseo yelled. "The Mythril Pebble of Pig-Smiting!" Kirito declaired in his sarcastic glee. "Please make him stop..." Klien begged while in a state of utter shame. "I'm trying..." Haseo cried desperately. "For you see, long ago-..." Kirito began. But a quick punch in the gut from Haseo put a stop to Kirito's long story about rocks.

After a while longer of training, Klien decided it was time to log out for his pizza dinner. "Huh? Hey Haseo, total noob question but how do I log out...?" Klien asked. "Are you fucking serious...?!" Haseo huffed. "Hey, it's NerveGear! I can't Alt+F4 this shit man...!" Klien defended. Haseo opened his menu but was shocked to find his log out button was disabled. "What the hell!?" he asked in disbelief. Kirito checked his and sure enough, no log out. A bell chimed in the distance and they were teleported to Mac Anu's plaza (AN: this is the plaza from SAO). A mysterious and robed figure appeared in a waterfall of what appeared to be blood coming from the now reddened sky. "Welcome players of World of Blades to my Opening Ceremonies! I am the creator, Yasuhiko Kayaba...! Over the next couple months and perhaps years, you may come to hate me..." he began. There was some confusion and babbling in the croud. "Everyone... Everyone, your attention please..." he called. With an upraised arm his character went mute. A few minutes later it came back on. "Ok, I just realized what happened there, it's very funny but right now serious time... Like in the now obsolete World of Warcraft, you are no longer here by choice... Unlike WoW however, it is not your desire to escape your dull, grey little lives keeping you here..." he explains, "You are now my prisoners within this world. If you want to escape, you must make it to the hundredth floor and defeat the last boss... While your healing items and spells still work, if your health drops to 0 and no one revives you within 10 minutes, you die in real life... One final thing, examine your inventories, you will notice a special item I have placed there..." Eveyone looked and were surprised to find hand-mirrors. At first glace, there seemed to be nothing special about them but soon the entire crowd was glowing. When the individual's glow was gone, their character was their real, actual age and gender. "As you can see, I have stripped you of your petty fascades and shown you as you really are..." Kayaba explained, "And now, I leave you to your devices..."

Amidst the panic and confusion, Kirito and Haseo were seperated. All either could do was hope the other and Leafa hadn't died from being trampled in the crowd's panic. Kirito managed to pull Klien away and explained to him a bold plan. "So this is the deal, we need to take an early advantage before the fields are picked clean of wild game... I could use a teammate, are you in...?" Kirito asked. "As tempting as that sounds, my friends are back there... I can't just leave them..." Klien replied. Kirito looked at him helplessly. "Alright, I don't like it but I respect your loyalties... Best of luck, my friend..." Kirito replied offering him a hand. "Thanks, you too..." Klien responded shaking Kirito's hand, "If I see Haseo, I'll send him to you..." "If you see Haseo, just et him know I'm ok... And listen, tell him to find and look after Leafa for me..." Kirito replied. "Will do!" Klien answered. With that Kirto ran off.


	3. Haseo Side: The Twilight Brigade

It had been a week since the event that had come to be known as the Twilight Mirror Incident. Haseo had not seen Kirito or Leafa in that time. Still concerned, he continued soloing through areas. At this point he didn't really know how to develop his character. Stick to one weapon or try to specialize in multiple? He also hadn't upgraded his Twin Daggers. It was mid-way through an area with no Return Feathers, items that return you to the nearest warpgate immediately, when he checked his equipment. His armor was fine but he noticed that his Spin Gu Gais were flashing red. When he selected them he saw why. They had reached their durability threshold. One more battle and they'd break. He considered his options on the Broad Legged broadsword in his invtentory, the only other weapon currently in his possession. He could backtrack, but there was no telling if the monsters behind him had respawned. He could press on and find a warpgate but again the problem was the local beasts. "Well damnit... Fucked if I do, fucked if I don't..." he thought, clicking his tounge. Hesistantly he switched his equipped weapons. "My broadsword skills aren't very good but I guess I'll have to make due..." he thought. Silently he cursed himself for not having his Twin Daggers reforged before leaving. He pressed on through the area and arrived at the Beast Statue, it was easy enough and he'd done it many times before. Kick the chest get the loot and leave.

This time wasn't so easy. "Hey IYOTEN, check it out, another noob..." a female voice called from behind. "Perfect, I was starting to get bored..." the male voice replied. Haseo whipped around and drew his broadsword. "Careful, I'm no noob...!" he replied loudly and with a growl. As he said that he took a swipe at IYOTEN. "Woah! Hey this little fish has some fight, Asta...!" he laughed. Haseo could tell by the looks in their eyes that they were PKers or, in the case of World of Blades, murderers. Normally, he'd show them no mercy and kill them without batting an eye but he was on the recieving end of a savage beating. "I don't wanna' die... If Kiriga and Sughou were here I could kill these bastards easily...!" he thought angrily. There was nothing he could do, he was going to die. He decided he'd try to take one of them with him to hell. "If I have to die, I won't go quietly and I won't go alone!" he growled. He weighed his options carefully. "I hope you love her, IYOTEN, that way when I drag her to hell with me you can feel the shame of being unable to protect her...!" he roared. Asta readied to defend herself, but Haseo went after IYOTEN instead. Asta attempted to help IYOTEN but he had already knocked Haseo back to the ground. "Nice try, little fish..." he replied mockingly. A deep and calm voice came from the entrance to the room. "Leave..." it commanded. "Who's gonna' make us, old man?" IYOTEN challenged. The man didn't say anything else, merely fired a shot from his rifle that pierced straight through IYOTEN. IYOTEN's eyes went wide as his health dropped to 0, the man turned his gun to Asta. "Leave..." the man commaned again. Asta attempted to rush him with the same result. He approached Haseo and helped him up. "Who are you...? And why did you help me?" Haseo asked. "My playertag says Ovan, does it not? And what other reason then for the sake of helping do I need for helping someone in need?" Ovan replied calmly. "I suppose..." Haseo replied suspisciously. "Those who prey upon others and kill for their own animalistic pleasure can only be called monsters... Although, even such a term is much too nice for them..." Ovan continued, "If a decent person wanted to survive here they would have to learn to kill or stay behind someone willing to..." Haseo said nothing and gave no sign that he acknowledged but he agreed with Ovan. When they returned to town Ovan gave Haseo a card. "What's this...?" Haseo asked. "It's a guest key to a guild's home... My guild in fact, the Twilight Brigade... If you have need of a place to rest, you are most welcome to join us..." Ovan offered. "Thanks, I'll think about it..." Haseo replied thoughtfully and walked off.

After he started walking away he remembered his Twin Daggers. He checked his own character stats, his own blacksmithing skill was at 15, way too low. Aside from that, his only other options were to find a player willing to help or buy brand new blades. Most skilled blacksmith players either kept to themselves or were part of a guild and only sold to guildmembers. Fortunately, he had found a player-owned smithing shop. Inside he found a girl with short pink hair and equally pink eyes. "Hi, I'm Lizbeth!" she introduced in a cheery tone. "Haseo..." he returned in a noticibly duller tone. "Ok, what can I help you with, Haseo?" she asked. He placed his Twin Daggers on the counter. "I need these reforged..." he answered. She looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. "You want me to reforge these peices of junk? I can forge you a new pair of better Twin Daggers within a few minutes... There literally is nothing in this game that is worse than these as far as Twin Daggers go..." she explained. "I don't wanna' have to pay extra for the materials..." he countered. "You're a new customer, I'll wave the materials fee and give you half off..." she offered. "Sounds too good to be true, what's the catch?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "That you only see me as your blacksmith..." she replied. "That's dirty and underhanded..." he commented. "Thems the brakes..." she responded. "Never said I didn't like it..." he returned with a dry smile, "Be careful what you wish for though, I'm not a very pleasant person once ya' get to know me..." "That, I very much doubt," a new voice came. Behind him he saw a woman with short white hair tucked under a large black hat, grey eyes, and wearing a black dress. Behind her stood a girl with azure hair and sapphire eyes. "Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you to my friend, don't be so timid Sachi, say hello..." she ushered, "Sorry, I'm Shino... I believe you already met our guildmaster, we're from the Twilight Brigade..." "Yeah, I did... And I already gave him an answer... I said I need time to decide, if he doesn't like that answer-..." Haseo started irritatedly. "Please don't misunderstand, we're not here to pressure you into joining, it's merely coincidental..." she explained. "Coincidental, huh...?" he repeated with suspiscion in his voice. "That's right, we were headed to the Chaos Gate to meet up with him and we saw you with him... Sachi told me before we left on a training mission with her that her spear is in this shop..." Shino explained. "How long will it take, Lizbeth?" Haseo asked. "Gimme' 3 hours..." she told him. "Alright, I'll be out training with my Broadsword..." he replied and left.

Another area, another PKer. This time some bitch named Ender trying to force him into a guild called TaN. She had beaten him somewhat easily but even still, Haseo didn't want any part of it. "PKers like you are scumbags...! I'd sooner die than join up with a bunch of murderers!" he growled. She eyed him carefully, apparently judging what made him special. "There's nothing particularly special about this boy now... But that power inside him is unmistakeable..." she thought. To his surprise, she let him go. "You're not worth my effort boy... Run along now..." she said calmly. He glared in response, deep down he knew though, he didn't stand a chance against her. The desire to kill her for her hand in the deaths of others was still an intense fire. He gritted his teeth and swallowed his pride, he hated walking away from a PKer and doing nothing about her but he did. In less than an hour he found himself back at Lizbeth's shop. "What's wrong, Haseo? You look troubled..." she asked. "It's nothing..." he huffed. "Well in any case, I have good news for you! I got into contact with some information brokers I know and they've agreed to meet with you!" she exclaimed. "Couldn't hurt to meet with 'em, so long as I don't have to go out of town to... I've had bad luck with PKers today..." he replied with a slight smile. She handed him his new Twin Daggers, he gave her a quick nod before leaving to meet the informants.

The first was a tall, bald, dark-skinned man named Agil. "Lizbeth tells me you're lookin' for info, kid..." he asked. "Yeah, I need some information on 2 friends of mine and a guild called the Twilight Brigade..." Haseo confirmed. "The Twilight Brigade, huh? They're some strange folks, chasin' after some old rumor that dates back to the days of Fragment and Sword Art..." Agil explained. "A rumor that old and it's still around?" Haseo questioned. "This is no ordinary rumor, an item caled the Key of the Twilight created by a real digital goddess, a self-aware AI with near limitless power over the world wide web, may have the power to grant any wish it's weilder desires..." Agil explained. "And the Twilight Brigade is after it...?" Haseo retorted. "I dunno' why Ovan wants it so bad, but I can damn sure tell ya' it ain' to try to ursurp Kayaba's control and log everyone out..." Agil informed. Haseo started off into deep thought. "You needed other information?" the older man asked. "I'm looking for 2 players, one with short messy black hair named Kirito and the other with long braided blonde hair named Leafa..." Haseo replied. "Kirito and Leafa huh? Well, I'll keep my ear to the ground about Kirito but Leafa recently joined the Silverblades Guild..." Agil replied. "What do you know about these Silverblades...?" Haseo asked. "Not much, they keep a low profile... Nobody outside their guild knows their exact number or where their home is..." Agil explained. Haseo stood there vexed by his current situation. If he couldn't find Kirito or Leafa, he'd have to join a guild to survive. "Thanks for the help, Agil... How much do I owe ya'?" Haseo replied. "5,000 gil" Agil replied. "That's a bit steep, but you did help me out quite a bit..." Haseo sighed as he paid.

The second informant was a small elderly raccoon player on one of the many bridges in Mac Anu. Haseo approached the character, not knowing if it was a player or an NPC. As he got close the player turned and looked at him wth a lazy smile. "So, you're Haseo huh? I'm Phyllo and I suspect that Lizbeth referred you to me..." he introduced. "Y-yeah..." Haseo replied nervously. "No need to be so nervous around me... I'm just an old geezer killing time until I kick the bucket..." the aged raccoon laughed. "I need-..." Haseo began. "Information on the Twilight Brigade and your 2 lost friends who are elsewhere in Aincrad, right?" Phyllo interrupted. "Yeah, what's-...?" Haseo started again. "Sorry, but I don't have a going rate... I don't charge for my information..." Phyllo replied. His face and tone turned serious. "I used to know Ovan, he was a good person when I knew him and probably still is... We were Alpha testers for Fragment once upon a time... He seems certain these days that the Key of the Twilight rumor is true and constantly searches for it, along with an unknown area called Hollow Fragment..." Phyllo explains. "Hollow Fragment?" Haseo pondered. "It's a Lost Ground, a dungeon outside the system perimeters, supposedly it's a leftover from the Fragment days... One of a very few areas left in the game designed by Howard Hoerwick..." Phyllo explained, "But that's just a rumor, no one knows if the area actually exists..." "R-right... Now about-..." Haseo began and was interrupted again. "Kirito and Leafa, right?" Phyllo began, "Hmm, my information indicates that Kirito has been hiding himself on purpose and all the while grinding on his own, I couldn't tell you where he is or where you might find him... As for Leafa, she joined the Silverblades Guild, they're an elusive bunch but I'll see if I can get you in contact with them..." "Thanks..." Haseo replied. "You didn't-..." Phyllo started. "I'm a Beta tester..." Haseo interrupted. "Don't go around saying that too often..." Phyllo lectured.

Haseo felt he had no other choice. Most other guilds didn't seem to want him and he'd die if he didn't make some allies. Honestly, he didn't expect Kirito to last long on his own but more than once during the Beta, Kirito had done something that by conventional knowedge should've been impossible. "Hello again, Haseo..." a deep voice said to him. He turned and saw Ovan again. "Ovan... I heard about you... You're searching for the Key of the Twilight, do you really think something like that exists?" Haseo asked, "And even if it does that bastard Kayaba would keep it to himself..." "Perhaps you're right... But then again, the Key is a leftover from the Fragment days and Kayaba has no control over it... There are parts of the game that Kayaba has no say over, these parts were built by Howard Hoerwick..." Ovan replied. "The Key of the Twiight was made by a self-aware AI..." Haseo quipped. "True, but this AI was created, powers and all, by Hoerwick..." Ovan affirmed. Haseo quietly mulled over his options and realized that his options were faily limited. "Alright... You win... I'll-I'll join the Twilight Brigade... But only because I won't be able to survive on my own... I still have my own loyalties outside the Brigade, though!" Haseo responded. "You mean Kirito, right?" Ovan asked. "I mean Kirito AND Leafa!" Haseo replied, "How you know about them is a mystery to me, though..."

With that Ovan brought Haseo to meet the members of the Twilight Brigade and their branched subguild, the Moonlit Black Cats. "You have a subguild?" Haseo asked. "We used to be an independant guild, but we joined up with the Twilight Brigade out of mutual interest... We still have our own objectives..." Keita replied sheepishly. Keita had been introduced as the Twilight Brigade's assistant guildmaster, though only officially. Those responsibilities were relagated to Shino, his true role was the guildmaster of the Moonlit Black Cats. The smaller guild still maintained an unofficial independance. "So how did this happen?" Haseo asked. "Well, um, we used to get picked on by PKers... A lot actually... But a PKKer from here in the Twilight Brigade started saving us well a lot..." Sachi admitted bashfully. "A PKKer?! As in a Player Killer Killer!?" Haseo asked dumbfounded. "Yeah! You got a problem with that!?" a loud bolsterous voice called. "Calm yourself Gourd, this is Haseo he's joining us..." Ovan instructed. Haseo turned to see a girl with long purple hair covering one eye. "What!? Yes I'm a girl, you got a problem with that!?" she taunted. "Don't worry about her, Haseo... She's just upset because she wanted to play as a guy..." Shino laughed calmly. "I wanted to see how many players would react to me telling them that my quote/unquote balls are on my chest...!" she laughed. "She says things like that but her chest is very flat..." a man wearing a helmet retorted. When Haseo considered this man, he saw that he wore a green tunic under a brown cloak and a helmet and goggles with what looked like a shrub on top. "Keep talkin' and I'll SOCK you in the face, Sakisoka!" Gourd replied with a growl. "Maybe I should've looked into joining the Silverblades..." Haseo thought. As he slumped against a nearby wall, Shino tried her best to keep everyone calm. At this point Haseo began to wonder where his life went wrong and how much worse it could possibly get.


	4. Raid on Ilfang

Kirito stood leaning against a wall. Every day in this virtual hell was full of fear, doubt, and dispair. People tried to cling to what feint happiness they could find. Some of them tried to enjoy the game for what it got right, putting aside their thoughts of it's biggest and most glaring flaw. "Where are they?" he asked himself for what he guessed was the millionth time. "Sorry I'm late, niisan...!" Leafa said in an annoyingly perky voice as she ran up. They immediately hugged, just happy to see each other alive after having lost track of each other months ago. "Where's Ryou?" she asked. "Not here yet..." Kirito answered. "Actually, I'm right behind you, Kiriga..." a voice stated. "R-Ryou!" Kirito spun on a jump. "What took you so long...?" Leafa scolded. "My guildmaster has been working me like a slave... He didn't want me coming today..." Haseo explained. Leafa sat down on the ground up against the wall while her brother and childhood friend leaned against it. They would've spent this time catching up but there really wasn't much to catch up on. The trio waited in silence, it could be said that they were enjoying just having each others' company. Kirito fiddled with his menu, Haseo seemed focused on his broadsword, and Leafa had nodded off but each of them had a light, almost carefree smile. Kirito found something unusual in his inventory. "Key of the Twilight...?" he muttered. This caused Haseo to instantly snap to look at Kirito's inventory. Haseo couldn't see it though. "Very funny, Kiriga... Who told you my guild is after that damn thing...?!" Haseo quipped. "I'm NOT joking, it's right here! In my-...! Huh?" Kirito replied. As he looked back at his inventory the item was gone. He feverishly tapped at the spot where the item was but nothing happened. It was as though the item never existed.

It wasn't long before the strategy meeting started. Haseo had to practically drag Kirito along, as he was still distracted. Nevertheless, the trio attended the first floor strategy meeting. "Hey guys, thanks for coming to my little pow-wow... I'm Diabel and my chosen class is the knight..." he said light-heartedly. "This game doesn't have classes!" one player shouted. "Pow-wow?! I thought we were here to discuss how to beat the first boss!?" another shouted. "Calm down guys, I thought I'd start the strategy meeting with a couple jokes... What's wrong with that?" Diabel assured them, "Anyway, this boss is called Ilfang, the Kobold Lord... I know some of you are already discouraged that it's been 3 months and we've only just now found the boss chamber but I really think we can beat it... We just need a good strategy! Now, this little book here was written by a couple of unnamed Beta testers who actually made it all the way to the 21st floor...!" At that Diabel held up a small black book with blue lettering on the front that read "Guidebook!" in bold. "Beta testers!? They're the reason we're in this mess to begin with...!" a man not much older than Kirito and Haseo yelled. Haseo growled, he wanted to jump down there and punch him in the face. Agil beat him to it though. "Shut up and listen boy, you're throwin' a tantrum 'cause you can't accept that they're in the same situation we're in...!" Agil began. He held up the guidebook for Kibaou and the others to see. "Everyone see this book? This is a guidebook put together by the Beta testers, it lists strategies for the bosses and where to get the best drops for facing them as well as what to bring along in the way of food and potions...! These damn things can be picked up at literally ANY NPC shop for FREE! If ya' didn't read it or at least skim over it, it's your own damn fault! Now siddown and shut the hell up, ya' whinin' baby!" Agil lectured. He threw the copy of the book he had into Kibaou's face. At that Haseo leaned over and whispered to Kirito. "I like that guy... I think his name is Agil... Some blacksmith named Lizbeth referred me to him..." Haseo whispered. "Hush Ryou... I'm trying to hear...!" Leafa lectured in her whisper. At that point Diabel began talking about the guidebook's strategy to beat Ilfang. "It looks like it changes weapons and styles when it's health gets into the red, it changes from an axe and buckler to a talwar... So we'll need a good plan..." Diabel stated confidently. "Well how 'bout we divide up into squads...?" A player suggested. "Bum rashing won't work, we need to think carefully..." Kirito added. "There's a good chance we could be able to use flanking tactics..." Agil suggested. "I suppose we have nothing else... Alright ladies and gentlemen, form your parties tomorrow we'll meet at about 9..." Diabel stated confidently. "Nine...?! Seriously, dude that's too early...!" a random player whined. "Fine, we'll meet at 11 then..." he sighed. "Dude, that's still too early...!" another piped. "Fine we'll meet at the crack of noon, I guess..." he sighed, and then grumbled, "Lazy butts..." Of course, the 3 immediately formed their party but Kirito noticed a girl sitting by herself.

He moved closer to her. "So, uh, wanna' join our team...? We could use another player..." Kirito invited nervously. She examined him from under her hood, then Leafa and Haseo who were presently arguing or flirting over some stupid thing or another. "I-I... dunno' how to open my menu..." she huffed. Haseo had heard her say that and fell over laughing. "Wha-...?! Wait, you can't do ANYTHING in this game without a menu! How have you survived this whole time...?!" Leafa asked incredulously. "I manage..." the girl stated. "She doesn't leave the root town!" Haseo cried laughing. "Shut up! It's NOT funny!" she cried. "Don't worry about him, he's an asshole..." Kirito reassured her. "Yup, that's me... Geniune asshole and proud of it...!" Haseo retorted with a grin. "Why are you friends with him if he's such an asshole...?" she asked. "Because it's better than being friends with a bunch of mouth-breathing neck-beaters who think lmao is how French people laugh..." Kirito sighed. As if to confirm his statement one of the other players made a comment that made all 4 of them heave. "Well, you certainly speak from your heart, don't you...?" Asuna replied. "Funny, I always thought I was speaking through my mouth but eh, shows what I know about biology..." Kirito laughed. She gave him an odd look. "Don't worry this is just him trying to be funny..." Leafa reassured. "Yeah, you're not really that funny..." she responded. "I tell him that all the time... He doesn't listen..." Haseo replied with a shrug. "That's the thing about being an asshole, people don't always take you seriously..." Asuna informed. Haseo just shrugged.

The next day there were 3 older men gathered for the raid that hadn't been there the day before. One a man in a strange mask with spiked hair, another a man dressed in black with white trim grey hair and a scar over his face, and finally the third was a tall younger man playing a beast character. The other players were giving them a good deal of space. "Hi, I'm Diabel... I didn't see you guys at the strategy meeting... Are you familiar with the plan of attack? If not, I can go over it with you..." Diabel greeted them nervously. "Like we need your help...!" the tall beast player quipped. "Mind yer manners, Sirrius!" the old man in the masked snapped, "Sorry 'bout the pup, we'll welcome your insight..." "Uh, I-I see..." Diabel stuttered before explaining the plan. "Who the hell're they...?" Kibou asked. "Someone you don't wanna' piss off... Those 3 are already makin' names for themselves... Anteres, Taihaku, and Sirrius they're 3 of the very best players around..." Agil explained.

After a few minutes of rundown with Anteres, the raid party headed out to the dungeon Delta Climbing Infinity's Gate. As they entered the battle area with Ilfang the Kobold Lord it began to summon other kobolds. For the most part the assault team had to deal with the cannon fodder. For a while Haseo, Kirito, Leafa, and Asuna dealt with the cannon fodder as well. Then with a thunderous roar Ilfang threw aside his axe and buckler and drew a sword from off his back. Kirito saw Diabel charge in only to be confused by Ilfang's new and suddenly very fast attack pattern. "Diabel, look out! That's not a Talwar, it's a Nodashi!" he shouted. To no avail, Diabel was hit by the full force of a downward slash from Ilfang. A shot from Taihaku's rifle followed by a quick punch from Sirrius and Ilfang was sufficiently distracted enough to allow Kirito to rush to aid Diabel. "Diabel!" Kirito rushed to his aid pulling an elixer out. Diabel pushed it away. "No... It's better this way... I just can't put on a brave face anymore... I'm not like you or Haseo or those guys over there..." he said weakly indicating Anteres' group. Before Kirito could respond Diabel disappeared. "Diabel... I'm not strong... I'm weak... I'll never be strong by myself..." Kirito lamented. He didn't notice that Ilfang had broken away and was charging at him. The sound of railgun firing filled the air and Ilfang flew backwards from the shot. "You're not as weak as you think, big brother... If you can't be strong by yourself, then lean on me..." Leafa said with a bright smile. Ilfang once again charged at them but just before it could swing Kirito felt a hand on his back and a voice call out. "Switch!" the voice called. Then he saw Haseo knock the brute down with his broadsword. "Don't forget about me, Kiriga... When have I ever left you dangling...? Just remember, we killed this fat bastard once we can do it again...!" Haseo replied confidently. With that Asuna came up with a bold plan. "Kirito, we'll catch it in a pincer... You and me on one side, Haseo and Leafa on the other... When it turns it's attention to one group, we'll counter to knock it off balance, then strike! Rinse, repeat, victory...!" Asuna explained. "You figured that out but you still can't open your menu..." Haseo snickered. "Shut up...!" she snapped.

As planned, they got on both sides of it. It at first focused on Kirito and Asuna, but it took a stab at them with it's sword blade-side up. "Haseo, look out!" Kirito shouted. Just as Kirito predicted, Ilfang did a wide overhead vertical slash, slamming his blade between Haseo and Leafa. The two had managed to avoid it, thankfully. "Sughou, give it another taste of your railgun...!" Haseo yelled. "I can't... It broke..." she explained. "Move!" they heard a voice command. Haseo and Leafa cleared for Taihaku to take another shot. His gun fired twice, blinding Ilfang. It stumbled about in pain, roaring in rage and swinging wildly. "He's all yours, kids..." Anteres told them. Haseo and Kirito began slashing at him with all their strength. It hit the ground hard and everyone thought it was over. Kirito began stumbling back towards what was left of the raid party. "K-Kiriga..." Haseo staggered. A strange noise filled the air. Kirito whipped around, Ilfang was back on it's feet surrounded by what appeared to be black bubbles. It began a rush towards them, too fast for Kirito and Haseo's group to react. Kirito covered his face with his arms and braced himself for the end. It never came. "Kirito, do not be afraid... I have given the power over creation and destruction... A sign of the Truth, the Key of the Twilight... Use it to unlock your true power...!" a strange woman's voice told him. Time seemed to stand still for him. He extended his arm and called in a voice that was both his and not. "Data Drain!" he shouted. What appeared to be fanblades made of transparent green glass appeared around his arm. Then data poured out from Ilfang and into his hand. When it was over, Ilfang fell over dead.

They once again stood victorious over Ilfang. Kirito stared at his hand. "What the hell, Kiriga!?" Haseo yelled. "I don't know!" Kirito yelled back. "What did you do!?" Haseo asked. "I DON'T know! I just... I blacked out..." Kirito explained. "No you shouted something, then it just died...!" Haseo exclaimed. "Look, I don't know ok!" Kirito replied. "I'll tell you what happened..." a voice from the crowd replied. "He's a hacker! A cheater! And you're both Betas, it's obviously all your fault Diabel died!" the voice belonged to Kibou. "You're still alive, loudmouth? I would've thought you would've bit it against the small fries..." Haseo retorted. "Hey loudmouth, shut up...! I didn't see you fightin' out there...!" Anteres retorted. "It's ok, I appreciate what you're trying to do... He's right though, at least about me being a Beta..." Kirito replied, "But don't confuse me with most of the other wienies in this game who claim to be Betas... I'm years ahead of those newbies... And I'm centuries ahead of you, motormouth..." "Y-you're NOT better than me! Y-you're nothing more than a Beater!" Kibou cried, unaware of the weight of the nickname. "Beater? I like it... I'll accept that as my nickname... Just don't forget it..." Kirito laughed. He donned a black duster he got as a drop from Ilfang and walked away, dissolving his battle party. Shortly after, Haseo and Leafa recieved apology IMs.

Kibou stood there stunned, shaking it off he turned to Haseo and drew his breath to say something. Before he could he came face to face with Haseo's broadsword. "Kirito's the nice one, you breathe a word to me and I'll finish the job Ilfang's flunkies started on you...!" Haseo growled. Haseo muttered a quick apology to Leafa before donning a new outfit and walking away as well. Leafa turned to Asuna and exchanged member addresses with her before leaving. The rest of the raid party began to disperse as well but Kibou was stopped by Anteres. "Keep in mind kid, those 2 boys are far more than you will ever be... Be careful who you mouth off to from now on..." Anteres told him coldly. "Master, why would you even waste your breath with this weakling?" Sirrius asked. "Thought I'd at least try to set the record straight, Sirrius..." Anteres replied, "Com'n Taihaku, let's leave this crybaby to his fate..." "As you wish, Master Anteres..." Taihaku replied calmly.

Author's note: Yes, I am using humor from Sword Art Online Abridged. That material belongs to the team at Something Witty Entertainment, check 'em out on YouTube, they're hilarious...


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